Macrocosm Science Magbook

Friday, March 11, 2011

Otzi the iceman, the 5,300 year old hunter found by hiking tourists in 1991 in the Otztal Alps between the border of Austria and Italy is one of the more popular mummies ever found. Revealed by melting ice together with his weapons and a few articles of clothing, Otzi has given useful clues as to how people lived more than five thousand years ago during the Chalcolithic (Copper) Age. The mummy is now recognized as the oldest natural human mummy in Europe.

For years, Otzi's remains and belongings were displayed at the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology in Bolzano, Trentino-Alto Adige-Sudtirol. Reconstruction of his real face revealed a glimpse of what the hunter actually looked like when he was still alive. But the reconstruction was hardly convincing, and made Otzi appear more like a mannequin rather than a Copper Age hunter. But then the Dutch brothers Andrie and Alfons Kennis came up with the idea of doing a better reconstruction of Otzi using modern forensics and the fine art of modeling that you'd only expect to see in movies. The result is a more realistic Otzi that is fitting enough to be displayed at Madame Tussauds wax museum.

Huh! Look at what they did to me. They made me look old!

Before, Otzi had a young and smooth face, but the Kennis's brothers version gave him long graying hair and a weather beaten face - the kind that you'd normally expect for someone who's always exposed to the elements. Which do you think is the one that closely mirrors Otzi when he was still alive?

Friday, March 4, 2011

This is stool bacteria, the kind that gets injected from someone else's gut into yours if you suffer from ulcerative colitis. (Wkipedia image)

Ulcerative colitis (Wikipedia image)

Well, we've all heard of transplants like whose involving the heart, liver, kidneys, and even the face, but have you heard of fecal transplants? Of course by the term itself you already have an idea what's involved. Yes, it's feces, otherwise known as stool and in other more crass terminology used in the expression of dismay or disgust.

Fecal transplants involve transferring of fecal material from a donor to a patient. The patient usually suffers from pseudomembranous colitis, otherwise known as ulcerative colitis. The introduction of fecal material from one person to the gut of another is supposed to bring back normal levels of bacterial flora that are beneficial to the digestive system. Fecal transplants involve enemas or the introduction of fluids into the intestines. But unlike the regular enema done through the anus, fecal transplants sometimes use a nasogastric instrument. Instead of your behind, this goes into your nose and down your esophagus.

Fecal transplants are done several times until the patient is well. The procedure is also known as fecal bacteriotherapy, fecal transfusion, and human probiotic infusion. That last definition is the most ear-friendly of all. Oh if you're wondering, donors are usually relatives who are healthy. So, if you are ever lined up to receive the procedure, you don't have to worry about where the hospital is sourcing the feces. But to save you from all this trouble, why not just drink Yakult first and see what happens?